Tourism Dissertation: Tips from 2 Writers

A tourism dissertation is a long, original research document composed on a single, specific aspect of tourism. Tourism dissertations may be written by a student studying business, politics, or international relations in order to investigate the tourism aspects of those disciplines. Tourism dissertations are not, therefore, travel guides pointing out highlights of a particular locale. They are advanced, analytical texts that seek to reveal an important aspect of the tourism industry, the way tourism affects politics, and the way tourism figures into international relations.

Tourism reports should select as their topics a very specific aspect of tourism that relates to the student's field of study. For instance, a business student may write a tourism dissertation on a particular way in which tourism is affected by regionalism. A student studying politics may write his tourism dissertation on how tourism revenues can indicate political perceptions. A student studying international relations may write a tourism dissertation on how tourism can help to alleviate political tensions. Each of these dissertations would explore tourism in such a way as to generate new ideas and insights about the larger fields of study which they address.

The scope of tourism a tourism dissertation will investigate will depend largely on the researcher's topic; however, it is best to keep the scope to a manageable dissertation level. Such documents are typically completed over the course of a few years; therefore, writers of tourism reports should not attempt to begin a study that will require the researcher to gather data over a five-year span. Often, dissertations can be relevant even by examining a relatively small population or data group.

Tourism dissertations will almost definitely include large amounts of quantitative data that present statistics regarding tourist demographics, tendencies, expectations, etc. Often, large amounts of quantitative data are best represented through tables or graphs in order to be clear and understandable. Such tables and graphs should be clearly labeled so that readers can easily determine their data.

Tourism dissertations will also rely heavily on the work of previous researchers. Such research should be accurately and clearly cited to accord proper credit to the work that has already been done in the field. These studies should also be thoroughly documented in a references or works cited page following the body of the document text.

Tourism reports should seek to contribute original knowledge; therefore, it is important that the writer explore a topic in a creative way that has not already been studied in order to bring new insight to the topic.

Tourism coursework consists of any assignment required for a course focused on tourism. This includes in-class work as well as homework. As tourism courses will likely center on business operations, models, and practices, it is likely that tourism coursework will include similar assignments as those required in business courses, such as research papers, case studies, and various types of analyses. The primary difference between these two types of coursework is that tourism coursework will require the student to contextualize all of his or her responses in the tourism industry specifically. This means that unlike a general business course in which students are expected to apply general business principles to their work, a tourism course will demand students to demonstrate and apply methods and practices specific to the tourism industry.

A research paper is a popular tourism coursework assignment. Research papers will require the student to select a single aspect of the tourism industry and explore it in detail through the use of secondary research. Because business is a field that is constantly changing, it is important that students focus such research in contemporary studies. Research published in the last five years is preferable; research published more than 10 years ago should be greeted with skepticism unless it presents theoretical research that explains general trends or theories.

Case studies are likely components of tourism courseworks since they demand students to consider real-world problems in the tourism industry and attempt to solve them. A case study will typically present a situation outlining a company's issue regarding developing a component of a business or trying to solve a business problem. The student is required to apply the knowledge he or she has gained throughout the study of business in general and tourism in particular to address the problem in a pragmatic and economic way. Case studies are often difficult, but are excellent learning tools since the real-world solution to the case will be revealed to the student after completion of the study.

In addition to research papers and case studies, it is likely that students will have to complete a variety of other analysis-based work for their tourism coursework. This may include a market analysis paper, an industry-wide trend analysis, a financial analysis of a specific tourism company, an analysis of a tourism company's growth and performance, an analysis of trends in the tourism industry, and a variety of others.

Tourism coursework should always be carefully proofread for grammar, spelling, and style errors, as many business professors are adamant that documents submitted for business courses are of a professional-level presentation.

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